Established by Hemas Holdings PLC one of the largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka, the Foundation has two key projects – Project Piyawara and Project Big Heart – focusing on children aged 3-12 years.

Considered one of the best public private partnerships, Project Piyawara was established in 2002 and primarily focusses on early childhood care and development through the establishment of child friendly pre-schools across Sri Lanka. This program, whose focus group is children between the ages of 3-5 years, was created to provide a holistic approach to pre-school education.

Project Big Heart is essentially a scholarship project launched in 2012 to assist children who risk being unable to continue their schooling due to extreme poverty. The focus age group under this project is from 6-12 years thereby helping them to complete their primary education from Grade 1 to 5.

Both these projects are in partnership with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment and focus on national needs. Regular assessment and monitoring are done by the Ministry using its national network, thereby giving the Foundation the opportunity to work closely with the Ministry staff and government officials across 331 Divisional Secretariats around. This also gives the project its much needed sustainability.

Roshan Mahanama

Brand Ambassador

“I am proud to represent this very noteworthy cause. It has been my lifelong dream to support and promote the education of children in Sri Lanka. A little gesture of kindness today can reap immense benefits in the future for these children. My ambition is to garner as much support, both locally and internationally for this cause.”